The Attic Adventure
by reppad98
Summary: On a rainy Sunday afternoon, Petunia and Lily visit the old attic, and something happens. Something... magical. One-shot. My entry for Round 10 on the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition forum.


**A/N:** Thank you for clicking on this story! Please enjoy!

This is my entry for Round 10 on the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition forum. The challenge was to write a fic about Lily Evans before she went to Hogwarts, between 1000 and 3000 words.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

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**The Attic Adventure**

"C'mon, Lily, quick," a blonde girl whispered to the smaller redhead next to her. Both girls were peering around the door post, spying on their parents, who were sitting in front of their new TV. The two adults were too engulfed in the film playing to pay attention to their daughters, and the two girls used that to their advantage.

They were going to visit the forbidden attic.

It was unusual for them, to break the rules like that. But really, what kid could resist an old attic? Not even the usually good Evans sisters.

The eldest one of the two, Petunia, was more of a rule lover than her younger sister Lily, but with the prospect of seeing the old attic she would gladly put the rules aside for a day. In fact, it had been her idea.

Lily had been a bit shocked, when Petunia had told her about her plan. But, being stuck in the house for three days straight because of rain, having heard stories from her grandfather about treasure maps found in old dusty attics and generally being an adventurous girl, she had quickly joined in with Petunia's excitement.

The girls had planned it. Every Sunday afternoon at exactly half past three, their parents would watch some sort of series on TV, and not pay attention to them anymore. At five, the series would end, their mother would start cooking and their father would come to play with them.

One and a half hour. More than enough to go on adventure to the attic.

So now they were waiting on the perfect moment to slip to the attic, intently watching their parents, who were just as intently watching the TV.

After a few moments, Petunia squeezed her sister's shoulder softly. "Now, now, and quiet!"

The redheaded girl stumbled to the stairs, almost tripping in her haste to get there. Petunia held her breath as Lily silently regained her balance and went for the stairs. Now she was standing on them, slowly climbing, skipping the third step, knowing that that one creaked. When Lily had safely and uncaught managed to get to the first floor, it was Petunia's turn.

The blonde was quicker than her sister, being older and more coordinated, but that didn't change the fact that she had to be silent as well. And being silent and running don't go well together.

Fortunately though, she too managed to get to the first floor without being seen by their parents, and the girls knew the worst part was over. The only way to get in trouble now was when their parents noticed they were gone, but the girls were sure they wouldn't notice their absence with their favourite series on TV.

"We did it, we did it!" Lily excitedly whispered.

Petunia's eyes shined. "I know! Now let's hurry, before Mum and Dad notice we're gone."

The younger girl nodded, her eyes filled with determination to get to the forbidden and yet so tempting attic.

But there was one more obstacle in their way. A big wooden door hiding the entrance to the stairs leading to the attic was towering over the girls, who were standing lightly impressed and nervously in its shadow.

"Who's going to open it?" Lily asked tentatively. "Tuney?"

The blonde girl bit her lip. "Mm..."

They both stood silent and still, waiting for the other to move, and finally the older girl reached up to the golden handle. Slowly, very slowly she tried to turn it. And found out she couldn't.

"It's locked!" Petunia looked panicked at her sister. "What do we do now? Go back downstairs?"

"No! I want to go to the attic. We have to get there, there must be a way!"

Petunia nodded, agreeing with her sister, but also saying, "Well, it's locked, it's not like we can go in there. Would there be a key somewhere?"

"Wait, let me try, I know a trick," Lily said tentatively. When her older sister moved away from the door, she reached for it, her hands completely covering the handle. It was cold, but the red-haired girl closed her eyes and felt the metal grow warm beneath her hands, as she silently wished the door to open.

A soft click was heard.

"It's open!" Petunia gasped. "How did you do that?"

Lily shrugged. "You just have to wish really hard. Really really hard, I think."

"Wow..." the blonde girl said impressed. "I want to try too!"

"Not now," Lily said. "Later, we need to see this first, before Mum and Dad find out."

Petunia realized this too, and nodded, but the glint in her eyes showed that she still was going to try it later. She wasn't going to forget this.

"Let's go in," the older girl said, opening the door slowly. It was dark, the stairs not lightened by a lamp or a window.

"It's dark..." Lily said hesitantly. "Should we...?"

Petunia looked at her younger sister, challenging her a bit. "You aren't afraid of the dark, are you?"

Immediately Lily's facial expression changed, her lips setting in determination. "Na-ah, I'm not!"

"Then let's go," Petunia said.

Slowly the two girls ascended the dusty stairs. They had left the door open, to have a bit of light shine on them from the corridor. They were holding each other's hands, because though they didn't admit it to each other, they were maybe a little bit afraid of the dark.

When they got higher, and turned a corner, it became lighter. And slowly, very slowly, the old, mysterious attic came in their sight.

On the left side a window allowed the sunlight access to the attic, and although the sun wasn't shining now, they still had enough light to see what was in the attic. It was mostly filled with old trunks, boxes and other packages with unknown contents.

"Look at all those things Petunia!" Lily whispered excitedly to her older sister, squeezing her hand. "Do you think there's a treasure map somewhere?"

Petunia didn't answer, she was too impressed by the sight of all the heaps of old stuff, gathered by her parents and her grandparents, filled with secrets and mysteries.

After some silence and more staring at the attic, the blonde girl said, "I think we should open a trunk, to see what's in it, you know..."

Lily nodded silently, letting go of her sister's hand and walking ahead towards the closest trunk.

"Just..." Petunia said slowly, as she followed her younger sister. "Just, we have to put everything back in place, otherwise Mum and Dad will notice someone has been here."

It appeared as if Lily hadn't heard her, too busy with trying to open the trunk.

"I'll do it," Petunia said after a moment of watching Lily trying to open it without success. After a few minutes of more fiddling from Petunia, they managed to open the trunk.

"Wow..." Lily whispered, and Petunia just stared in awe at the contents of the old trunk.

"It's... It's Mum's wedding dress," Petunia said unnecessarily, because Lily had already recognized the white piece of clothing laying in the trunk. The younger girl was slowly pulling it out and carefully held it up, trying to see it in full length. Of course, she wasn't tall enough, but it still showed the beautiful top of the dress.

"Do you think... Petunia, do you think we should try it on?" Lily asked her sister with gleaming eyes. She could already imagine herself in that white dress, twirling around. She would look just like a princess.

Petunia was thinking the same thing – it was of course every young girl's dream to wear such a pretty dress. After a few moments of hesitating, she finally decided.

"Only if we're really really careful with it, I think," she said, and added for good measure, "Really really careful."

Lily immediately pulled the dress over her head, disappearing in the white fabric. The dress was way too big for her, and after a few moments of struggling with the piece of clothing, she called out for Petunia to help.

"I'm lost in this dress!" A fit of giggles followed after that statement.

"I'll go get the map," Petunia said, laughing too as she tried to find the head hole. After a few more minutes of fiddling with the dress, a mop of red hair appeared out of the dress. The white fabric was completely covering the young girl, and they both saw that twirling was impossible. Even just walking would be a challenge.

But that didn't stop Lily from trying. "It's too bad we don't have a mirror here..."

"But you look beautiful Lils, don't worry," Petunia said to her sister. "You look just like a princess!"

Lily beamed, then tried to swirl around a bit more, before pulling the dress over her head. Or trying to pull the dress over her head, as it didn't work out as well as she had hoped, so Petunia had to help her out again.

"Look out, don't make it rip. Be careful," Petunia kept saying things like that when she gently tried to help Lily out of the dress, but it was harder than it seemed. Finally, after some minutes of struggling to untangle Lily from the fabric, she was free.

"So," Lily said, panting a bit. "Your turn to try it on."

Petunia grinned as she felt the soft fabric on her skin. The dress was really soft, but of course too big for her too. Fortunately she was faster with putting on the dress than Lily.

"You look like a bride from one of those films!" Lily exclaimed when Petunia's head appeared. "You look so pretty!"

Petunia grin was so big that it felt like it was splitting her face in two. "Imagine one day Lily, we'll get married..."

Lily was silent for a few moments, before saying, "But, that means we'll go live somewhere else..."

"Huh?" The older girl looked at her sister confused, not sure what she was getting at.

"That means we won't see each other anymore..."

"Oh Lily," Petunia said and then stumbled towards her younger sister, tripping over the dress and only not falling because Lily managed to catch her in a half hug.

"See Lils," Petunia said, hugging her, and then said in her best big-sister tone, "It's simple. We'll just go live next to each other and visit every day. And oh, our husbands will be brothers, that's nice for them too!"

Now Lily's eyes started shining excitedly. "Yes! And they'll be princes!"

"Oh, we'll go live together in their castle!" Petunia enthusiastically continued.

"Yes, oh yes, Tuney, that would be so amazing!" Lily was already imagining it, and so was Petunia. They both started jumping around, squealing about what wonderful things the future would hold when they would marry princes.

And then it happened.

Without thinking, Petunia had taken a few steps, but hadn't noticed that Lily had been standing on the dress. A ripping sound was heard, followed by silence from the girls.

"Oh no..." Petunia said slowly, turning around to see the damage. "Oh no oh no oh no oh no."

Tears were brimming in her eyes already, and Lily was no better. She was silently staring at the big rip in the fabric, just above her feet.

"This is not good, this is so not good, oh no," Petunia rambled, her voice getting higher with each word. "Help me out of this thing Lily!"

"We have to stay calm, don't panic," Lily repeated the words her mother always said in situations like this, but her voice was trembling, and she was obviously very close to panicking herself as she helped Petunia with the dress.

When Petunia was out of it, she fell on her knees to inspect the rip better, and Lily sat down next to her. Both girls were hiccupping and sniffling, doing their best to hold back their tears.

"If Mum finds out..." Lily said, and that was the last straw, as she fully started crying at the thought of their angry and disappointed mother.

"I ruined Mum's wedding dress," Petunia said, her lips trembling and a few silent tears cascading down her cheeks.

"No, Tuney, it's not, not your fault. I was standing on it..." Lily said between sniffles.

"But I was wearing it..." Petunia said, as she put her hands on the rip, putting the two parts together. Lily's two small hands joined hers as they tried to close the rip.

Petunia was just about to suggest that maybe she could sew it – their mother had been teaching them needlework for a few months – when the fabric beneath their hands lit up and the rip closed itself.

In wonder, the girls slowly let go of the dress, only to see that the rip was fixed. Completely amazed, they looked at each other. Their faces were tearstained and their eyes red, but they had the biggest grins on their faces.

"It was our sister magic," Lily said and then laughed.

"We wished hard enough..." Petunia agreed, before joining her sister in her laughter.

When the two sisters were recovered from the shock of ripping and repairing their mother's wedding dress, they decided it was probably better if they left the attic, before more things like that happened.

After carefully putting the dress back in the trunk and checking that everything was back in place, they left the attic.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Lily whispered to Petunia.

"Uh-huh," she agreed, then added, "But what if..."

She didn't need to finish that sentence, as they both remembered the panic of that moment.

Quickly Lily grabbed Petunia's hand. "But that didn't happen. We fixed it."

"Yes," Petunia said slowly. "We fixed it..."

"Let's go back next week!" Lily said as they closed the big door leading to the attic. They didn't worry about locking it – they were too engulfed in the happening of their sister magic.

"Next week?" Petunia echoed.

"Yes! There were so many other trunks and boxes..." Lily excitedly smiled at her older sister, and after a few moments Petunia nodded with a grin on her face.

"Yes, let's go back next week," she decided.

"Lils?" Petunia asked as they were silently walking down the stairs.

"Mm?" Lily whispered. "What is it?"

"You wanna go test out our sister magic some more?"

Lily grinned. "Of course!"

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**A/N:** Thank you very much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Please, please review, they make my day!  
Thanks again!


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